During a recent edition of his “Grilling JR” podcast, Jim Ross commented on the security failures at WWE’s hotel during WrestleMania 42 weekend, TKO’s toward celebrity involvement, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the lack of security at WWE WrestleMania 42: “You got to bulk up security. And they have to understand what they’re there for. They’re there to protect the talent from having to physically engage with the fans. Obviously, the talent would not be there if it weren’t for the fans. The fan is the most important asset wrestling or any other company has, their supporters. So I heard from guys that were there that they thought, in hindsight, that the security was a little slim. In other words, there weren’t enough bodies. You won’t have a lot of uniformed people there. That quells a lot of it.”
On TKO’s toward celebrity involvement: “Similar experience. I admire the in-ring efforts of a lot of people and they hustled. They busted their ass, and they’re following a game plan that’s been established. But I, like you, it’s too many starts and stops. Yeah, it didn’t flow as well as I needed for it to flow. But you gotta remember, I’m an old bastard. I got no patience. I’m cranky. Get out of my yard type thing. I want to watch wrestling, and all those commercials interrupted my flow. I admire there were a lot of great efforts. The production team did a magnificent job. The venue looked great, it sounded great. But it was a big time wrestling show in a dome at the biggest event of the year. How could you not get somewhat excited about it?”
On Mark Shapiro’s public acknowledgment that WWE is willing to lose hardcore fans: “That’s not a good statement to make. Take it or leave it type deal. Nobody likes take it or leave it in any aspect of your life. I don’t think that’s the way you market a product. It’s very iffy. You’re liable to run off more than you gain, and that’s not the goal. The goal is to add new, more new, and more new, and then hope that you can meld this whole scenario. But they shouldn’t overthink it. Get a bigger face or two over that people really believe in. And same with the heels. I’ve been impressed with Gunther. I’m a big GUNTHER fan because he works snug, he works logically, he looks like a wrestler. He conducts himself as a pro wrestling villain. They need more GUNTHER’s.”
Tatum Paxley recently shared her reaction after AJ Lee joked about “adopting” her, sparking a wholesome and memorable exchange between the two.
During a recent appearance on TMZ’s “Inside the Ring” podcast, Paxley addressed Lee’s viral social media comment. The moment came after Lee responded to a photo of Paxley posing with the NXT Women’s North American Championship, playfully asking if she could adopt her. Although Paxley had already replied on Twitter, she admitted that the interaction caught her completely off guard.
Paxley explained that she doesn’t often check Twitter due to its negativity, but stumbled upon the post while casually scrolling. She said,
“I don’t really read my notifications much, especially for Twitter because, in my opinion, it can be one of the more toxic apps. So I get on there this morning, I’m just scrolling, and I see a post saying AJ Lee wants to adopt Tatum Paxley. I was like, ‘What?’ I ran to her page and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so glad I saw this.’ It was such an amazing way to wake up.”
She also reflected on meeting Lee for the first time during WrestleMania week, recalling the moment she saw Lee alongside CM Punk. She said,
“I remember seeing her and Punk walking up, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is my first time meeting you.’ I hugged her, and she was just so incredibly kind and sweet. I love that we get to have veterans like that around.”
Paxley added that Lee’s recognition meant a great deal to her, especially as someone she looks up to. She said,
“I’m so thankful she’s back and doing amazing. To be noticed by her means the world. It reminds me that I’m doing something right.”
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